Google wants to release 32 million germ-treated mosquitoes into Florida.
The plan is part of the company’s Debug Initiative, a 10-year program aimed at reducing diseases spread by the world’s deadliest animals. Google has applied for an experimental use permit to inject mosquitoes with a specific strain of Wolbachia pipientis that prevents them from breeding.
Even when infected males mate with wild female mosquitoes, the eggs they lay do not hatch, leading to a decline in the overall population.
“We use an idea that has been around since the 1950s, called the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), which is also effective against other types of insects, including fruit flies, screwworms, and codling moths,” Debug’s website states. “The idea is simple: raise sterile males and release them into a population of wild insects. When wild females mate with sterile males, the eggs do not hatch. With each successive generation, the population dwindles.”
Google wants to release millions of mosquitoes into Florida
Google wants to release millions of germ-infected mosquitoes into Florida as a way to reduce disease-carrying populations.
Debugging has so far focused on the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits viruses such as dengue, Zika, yellow fever, and chikungunya. Eric Caragata, an assistant professor at the University of Florida who specializes in mosquito-microbial interactions, said the new debug request targets a species of Culex mosquito that can transmit West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis.
Still, this strategy “has never been effective against mosquitoes on a sufficient scale” and has failed to stop the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases.
“Mosquitoes are fragile and difficult to rear in the required numbers,” the site says. “At Debug, we are developing new technology to make that possible.”
In the first year of the experiment, 16 million sterilized male mosquitoes were released in Florida and California, and another 16 million will be released in the second year, according to the Federal Register. It did not say in which counties or cities the bug would be made public or when testing would occur.
Only female mosquitoes bite, so releasing the males will not increase the number of biting mosquitoes.
What types of mosquitoes does Debug target?
The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District already began releasing Wolbachia-treated Aedes aegypti mosquitoes last year, and the effort has been so successful that it plans to release more mosquitoes this year.
A similar technique was previously used for New World screwworms.
Release of sterile worms into wild populations has previously been shown to be effective in controlling New World screwworms. New World screwworms are a type of fly larva that primarily attack livestock, wildlife, and pets by burrowing into open wounds, “like a screw being driven into a tree.” According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, infection is often fatal. It has also been successfully used to control the Mediterranean fruit fly.
Isolated outbreaks of the parasite have previously been confirmed in the United States, including an incident in the Florida Keys in 2017.
What diseases can mosquitoes carry?
According to the World Mosquito Program, common mosquito-borne diseases include dengue fever, malaria, West Nile virus, chikungunya, yellow fever, and Zika.
Aedes aegypti can transmit diseases such as dengue, Zika, yellow fever, and chikungunya, and Debug’s latest target, the Culex mosquito, can transmit West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis.
